


Shockwaves

by shadowolfhunter



Category: Eureka (TV)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, PTSD, Trauma, gunshot wound
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 13:55:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19702726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowolfhunter/pseuds/shadowolfhunter
Summary: Jack Carter was a US Marshall before he was Sheriff of Eureka, and in a town where absolutely anything could happen and science ruled the waves, Jack knew he was out of his depth.But the fact that those in charge, namely Dr Allison Blake and Dr Nathan Stark, never saw there was a risk that plain old-fashioned homicidal rage could rear it's ugly head and throw rationality out of the window, well that was something that Jack really didn't understand.When one of Eureka's scientists pulls a gun and shoots Nathan. Jack finds himself in the epicentre of a unique crisis. Amid the need to find the perpetrator, Jack has to deal with Allison and Nathan's fallout from the shooting. It changes a lot of things between all of them.





	Shockwaves

“NO!” Jack flung out a hand, as the scientist Monroe turned and fired.

BANG!

As the gunshot reverberated around the room, Nathan Stark flinched and folded, his hands going to his right side as he staggered backwards, hitting the wall and sliding down it to land in an ungainly heap on the floor.

Jack Carter had been a US Marshal for fifteen years before he landed in Eureka as Sheriff, he knew how wrong things could go, and just how quickly it could happen. Allison Blake and Nathan Stark’s insistence that science came first he could sort of get, even if the whole idea infuriated him, but their naive belief that somehow their scientists were never going to constitute a real threat infuriated him. A split second to note that Allison Blake was rooted to the spot, frozen in shock or disbelief that Monroe the scientist had pulled the trigger, apparently unable to help Nathan, but Jack was moving, grabbing his radio, quickly informing Jo what had happened, he carefully reached for Nathan. Turned him gently onto his back, he pulled the scientist’s tie loose, tore the Nathan’s shirt open. Through and through Nathan’s right side, as far as Jack could tell it hadn’t hit anything major just clipped him, he reached up, swiped the towel from the bench above him, it looked clean enough, he placed it over the entry and exit wounds on Nathan’s side and clamped down.

Nathan cried out in pain, and his bloodied fingers feebly tried to push Jack away. “No, no scientist…” Jack spoke softly, keeping his voice low and soothing, “we need to keep your blood on the inside,” dazed green eyes opened, lashes flickered a couple of times, and Jack was rewarded with a weak grin. Then Nathan closed his eyes, one hand slid around Jack’s wrist, not to try and push him away, but rested there, probably for reassurance. Jack ensured he kept his grip firm on Nathan’s wounded side, and turned his attention to Allison.

She was still standing, rooted to the spot. “Allie.” he used the same soothing tones that he had on Nathan, “we need help down here.” He waited for her to slowly look up, her face pinched and grey.

“He…” Her voice was trembling, and she looked so unlike the confident put together Allison Blake that Jack blinked. “He shot Nathan.”

Shit. “Yes, he did, Allie.” Jack continued talking in that low, soothing voice, “and Nathan needs your help, right now. He needs a medical team here.” He waited until her eyes finally drifted towards him, “can you do that for me, Allie? For Nathan?”

Jack knew he had staunched the bleeding, but Nathan needed medical attention, not just quick and dirty field response, but stitches, and fluids. Nathan was also shivering a little, and Jack knew he was going into shock.

Finally Allison gave a sharp nod, and began to move, Jack refocused his attention on Nathan. The scientist lay still beneath Jack’s firm hands, Jack could tell he was still conscious, but obviously out of it with pain and shock, part of Jack wanted to gather him close and reassure him that help was on the way, and would he please stay with Jack, but that selfish part of himself Jack ruthlessly repressed, all his being, and his training focused on what Nathan needed, which was for Jack to keep the bleeding stopped.

It seemed that time stood still, and Jack concentrated all his attention on keeping Nathan’s wounds closed, and not the warmth of Nathan’s hand around Jack's wrist or the minute tremors in the strong fingers. Jack held on to Nathan, as his mind turned to their next immediate problem.

Jack had sensed something off about Monroe from the first day the scientist appeared. There was just something about him, in a town full of scientists ranging from the absent-minded dreamer to the most ruthlessly ambitious, there was something almost feral about Monroe. Jack was used to arrogance, that happened a lot, Monroe didn’t display that quality, there was this aura of cunning around the man, Jack was absolutely certain he was up to no good.

So, routine inspection by Allison had turned up something strange, not necessarily a red flag, but something, next review was full on Nathan and Allison, who invited Jack along for the ride. Of course, Nathan picked up on the thing that Allison noticed, and things were going downhill from there when Monroe produced the gun.

No fumbling, no shouting and waving it about, Jack was further into the room, Allison was standing to one side, only Nathan was between Monroe and the door. Monroe’s gaze flickered between Jack and Nathan for the briefest second, and then he smirked at Jack and fired at Nathan.

Jack replayed it in his mind, as the infirmary team reached them, hands pushing Jack’s aside, taking over. Jack almost yelped as Nathan’s trembling hand clamped tight around his wrist. The med tech tried to break Nathan’s grip, but panicked green eyes looked up at Jack and the Sheriff nodded, “It’s okay, Nathan.” He fixed a firm glare on the technician, “I’m coming with him guys, there’s still a threat.”

It was true, in the broad strokes, there was still a threat, Jack had not heard from Jo. But it didn’t matter how put together Nathan was, genius scientist or not, strong, rational man that he was, as far as Jack was aware, Nathan had never been shot before, the scientist was reacting on an instinctual level.

This was not exactly run of the mill, but Jack had done the strong and stable routine for wounded colleagues before, but never for a genius scientist who had never been shot until now. Holding Nathan’s hand tight as they put him under to fix the wounds, seeing Nathan without the barrier of snark, the rivalry over Allison, just about anything, it was a revelation that Jack’s unguarded heart was ill-prepared for.

Jack was officially worried, Monroe had got past Jo, it was late, it was dark, and Jack had been adamant when Jo had wanted to continue the hunt, even with Taggart as a very capable second, they were in new territory, and Jack was not going to hunt the man in darkness.

Before the medication overwhelmed him, Nathan had made Jack promise that he would be there when Nathan woke up. So Jack was sitting and waiting for that to happen. While replaying every single encounter or word of encounter with Arron Monroe in his mind.

Jack Carter may not be a genius, but what Jack did have was excellent recall. Not an perfect memory by any means, but his mind stored information like a filing cabinet. Every scrap on the man organised within Jack’s mind. His training helped but Jack had always been a details man, even as a child. One of the many reasons he loved baseball was the statistics, they appealed to his detail oriented brain.

Now he bent his considerable resources of deductive reasoning, and applied skills, to the dangerous problem of Arron Monroe. A fugitive, definitely armed, with an agenda, this was what Jack was good at, and he wrestled the problem in his head.

The US Marshall was back in business, although Jack fervently wished it had not come to this. Nathan shot, Allie falling apart, Jack knew there were more problems to be dealt with than just an escapee. Scientists did die in Eureka. Of science, of occasional sabotage, or plain old bad luck, but this, this was different and Jack was well aware of that.

The moan of discomfort distracted Jack from his musings, and he reached over to gently squeeze Nathan’s hand as the scientist began to wake. “Hey, take it easy,” Jack captured the hand that was reaching up to pluck at the nasal canula, slowly letting Nathan adjust to his surroundings, Jack pressed the button that raised the bed a little. “Water?” Nathan nodded, and Jack reached over for the cup, holding it so that Nathan could sip from the straw.

“Monroe.” Nathan croaked. Jack shook his head, he was not going to lie to Nathan. 

“We missed him.” Nathan’s reactions were slowed by medication and pain, but the scientist’s green eyes flashed panic, and he tried to move, Jack gently squeezing the hand he had hold of, refocusing the scientist’s attention on him. “We will get him, Nathan. I promise.” As the nurse reached them, summoned by the monitors, to check on Nathan’s condition, the scientist settled back into the pillows, fingers still firmly clamped around Jack’s.

The nurse raised her eyebrows. Jack sat back down, still holding Nathan’s hand. If that was what the genius Nobel Laureate needed to feel safe, then Jack was going to hold his hand and it didn’t matter what anyone else thought about the matter.

Nathan’s side hurt, he felt vaguely nauseous, aware that was likely from the anaesthesia, his head was pounding, and when he closed his eyes his mind replayed the moment Monroe pulled the trigger over and over. Nathan couldn’t think straight. His one constant the gentle hand that held his. It was odd, but Nathan drew comfort from Jack’s touch, grounding him.

Allison closed her front door carefully, folded her fingers into her palms and clenched her fists tightly. Trying to get herself under control. Until Arron Monroe fired, Allison Blake had held true to the principle that the scientists of Eureka would always put science first, occasionally there were other agendas, but in the main it was always the science.

So even when Monroe pulled the gun, Allison had to believe that science and rationality would win out. That there was no way that Monroe would pull the trigger, until that split second before Monroe fired, and in that pivotal moment, Allison realised that Monroe was going to hurt Nathan, perhaps kill him, that there was another agenda at play here, and all Allison’s illusions of control were just that. Illusions.

Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking, like she couldn’t get a bead on things because all her reasoning and rationality were fluttering like flags in a stiff breeze. She couldn’t even go to Nathan. He was down, shot, bleeding and hurt and she couldn’t be with him, because to acknowledge the truth would shatter all her illusions. And Allison needed her illusions.


End file.
